


Falling Nine Point Eight Meters Per Second

by mobilisinmobili



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Asgard, Avengers Family, Bad Ideas, Blackouts, Blood and Injury, Crimes & Criminals, Dark Magic, Dimension Travel, Double Agents, Explosions, Friendship, Healing, Irondad, Kidnapping, Loki has a heart, Magic, Missions, Missions Gone Wrong, Near Death Experiences, Odin's A+ Parenting, Parent Tony Stark, Portals, Punishment, Team Dynamics, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Torture, Trust Issues, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-13
Updated: 2018-07-03
Packaged: 2019-05-06 05:28:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14635059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mobilisinmobili/pseuds/mobilisinmobili
Summary: A mission gone wrong provides the opportunity to do right.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Unrelated to my "Life's Super Problems and Solutions" series!  
> (Stand Alone)

He was falling. 

He was falling and he was frozen. He just couldn’t get his sluggish muscles to move so that he could push the button on the side of his new suit that would activate flying mode. 

So he continued to fall, eyes closing sluggishly as the poison began to work its way closer and closer to his racing heart. 

“-eter. Peter!” he could barely hear the voice in his earpiece through the sudden ringing in his ears, but he knew who it was. 

_ Oh man…  _

“Peter! Do you read me?! Answer me goddamnit!” 

In all honesty, he wanted to respond. He really did. But right now, it wasn’t an option. He was way too tired. 

_ “Nine point eight meters per second. I should be hitting the ground any moment now… “ _  His mind supplied through its haze. 

So he forced his eyes open one last time to take in the view of the bright blue sky before shutting them and giving in to the poison. 

_ “It might not even hurt. Can’t feel anything if you’re unconscious.”  _ his brain added before Peter completely blacked out, meters away from the quickly falling quinjet that was painting the sky black as the rest of the craft caught flame, spiralling out of control. 

Within seconds there was a mighty  **bang** as it hit landfall and exploded into flames on the green green grass of the countryside it had crashed landed on. 

* * *

It took five minutes for everyone to regroup, a considerable distance away from the still burning jet.

“Everyone okay?” Rogers gazed critically around at the various stages of fatigue and injury. 

There was silence before Bruce spoke up. 

“We couldn’t find Peter.” he answered quietly, staring at the ground. 

“He fell out of the jet. Tony tried to reach him but he couldn’t get an answer.” Nat added solemnly. 

“What about the others?” 

“Falcon and Clint made it to the safe house, but Bucky and Tony got caught up halfway out of the forest. They went offline after Tony’s last message.” Nat answered neutrally, cool facade hampered by the sudden wince as the bullet hole on her side began to bubble out more and more blood, coating her hands scarlet. 

Steve took a deep breath. 

This was  _ definitely  _ not what was supposed to happen. 

Everything that could have gone wrong and indeed gone wrong in their three day rescue mission. 

It wasn’t supposed to have been this difficult or have generated this much damage. 

Wanda had been taken and they were bringing her back, that was all. 

But  _ this?  _ This was all sorts of fucked up. 

Having broken into teams of two they had planned to enter the facility from North and South, effectively blocking any means of escape for everyone else. 

But someone had known. Someone had tipped them off and the moment the team seperated and began to advance, they were ambushed. 

Cap had ordered a retreat back to the jet as they dodged bullet after bullet with some small explosions here and there.

Barnes had radioed in telling the rest of the team to evacuate first informing them that they’d find a safe place to stick around in until SHIELD could get backup. 

Rogers along with Widow, Bruce, and Peter had managed to get back to the jet and take off before Falcon radioed in with the bad news. Bucky and Tony didn’t make it to the safe area. Not only that. They had suddenly gone offline, severing the tracking device and communications. 

Rogers booked that thought and focused on taking off  as fast as he could. 

They were hovering, gaining speed to climb before the window nearest to Peter shattered, sticking Nat’s arm with jagged shards.

And with terrifying luck, something embedded itself into peter’s neck through a hole where the suit had cracked under immense pressure.

Bruce’s eyes widened in shock as Peter pulled it out slowly, wincing at the pulling sensation. 

“Peter.” Nat called, silently having a stare conversation with Bruce. 

“What is this?” he asked softly, turning it over in his hands. 

“Peter, are you okay?” Bruce prodded. 

It took a few seconds before he looked up, brows scrunched in confusion as silent terror flitted across his face. 

Nat took the dart gently from his hands before giving it a thorough observation. 

“We need to get to a medical facility. Right now.” 

Steve looked back in worry. 

“What happened?” 

“Peter’s just been poisoned. This is soviet made. Fast release poison dart.” She answered steely. 

The jet lurched as it flew higher.

“He’s going to go into cardiac arrest really soon.” 

“Sit down and buckle up.” Steve instructed before upping the speed.

Bruce and Widow complied. Peter tried to.  

Bruce watched in horror as Peter’s hands shook to a point where he couldn’t fasten the buckles. 

“Get his mask off. He’s gonna have trouble breathing soon.” Bruce instructed. 

Widow peeled the mask off, revealing a terribly pale Peter with cold sweat running down his face. 

And before anyone could do anything, there was loud thud from the outside of the plane that preceded the explosion. 

And with a third of the wall missing, the jet began to fall in a tailspin while the other parts began to catch flame. 

There was another considerably large boom as one of the propellers went up in flames causing the jet to jolt suddenly. 

And then Peter fell. 

He fell backwards heads firast speeding towards the trees of the large forest. 

“Peter!” Nat shouted as she tossed the remaining two a chute before putting one on herself and jumping out of the crashing plane. 

Cap put his chute on before hurryingly helping Banner, holding him steady as the made it to the hole in the wall.

“You’ve got to pull the orange lever.” he shouted as the wind drowned out most of his voice. 

Banner looked to his side to see the lever before nodding. 

And within a blink of an eye, Cap latched onto Banner’s arm, holding it in a vice grip before jumping. 

And then they were falling. 

Slowly but surely to the ground where Steve just hoped against all hope that they wouldn’t find Peter crashed onto the forest floor...  


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any guesses as to what's happening??  
> Stranger danger guys. Any guesses as to who?

Back up came within thirty minutes of everyone touching down. 

The only problem was that, not everyone had been found. 

Cap and the others had managed to find Sam and Barton while scouring the area for anywhere Peter could have crash landed, including the trees. It was a victorious moment, no matter how small to have found everyone safe and not dead. 

But the reality of the situation crashed over them as Widow stumbled over a hidden rock, sending her tumbling. 

She had been steadily losing blood from the marginally more serious than superficial bullet wound on her side. It wasn't a lot, but it was blood loss which called for a more direct approach to evacuating as soon as they could. 

Cap picked her up effortlessly before trudging on towards the RV point all the while keeping an eye out for any signs of the glossy red spider suit. 

They'd evacuate to the nearest military base get stitched up and come back to help with the search for the three missing teammates. 

* * *

Peter could swear he could hear his thoughts echoing around in his head.

Or at least that's what it felt like.

He almost slipped back into unconsciousness before jolting himself awake, eyes flying open as his heart raced painfully. 

_ How bizzare…. _

He wasn't falling anymore. That was one thing. 

But more importantly, he wasn't moving in general. Suspended in mid air surrounded at all angles by what looked to be dark black color. 

That and bursts of color here and there, swirling through the air? If air was the right term to use. 

The first thought that popped up in his mind was how eerily similar it looked to his textbook’s photo of the Andromeda Galaxy. But that was preposterous. 

If he was in outer space he'd be dead by now.  

Unless this was him being dead….

He shook his head, getting rid of that train of thought. 

Where was he? What had happened?

The last thing he remembered was the dart and then a boom. Everything after that was blurry. 

Something bad had happened. That he did remember. 

But what had happened? 

He was…? He was-

_ Oh _ …

That's right.

He was falling. Falling very quickly to the ground from thousands of feet up in the air. 

His heart rate picked up speed, edging the pain closer to being unbearable. 

Was the rest of the team okay?

Did they make It? 

His hurried anxious thoughts were cut short by a sudden vicious swirl of the colors and stars around him, scattering suddenly to form an impossibly dark circle just a arm length away from where Peter was floating. 

And within a heartbeat, he was falling once more. 

Down the impossibly dark and uncomfortably cold hole. 

_ A black hole? _

Falling 

Falling 

Falling 

And then he stopped, vision tunneling as the pressure on his heart became too much. 

But he knew one thing for certain before he faded back into the realm of unconsciousness; 

A pair of strong slender hands had grabbed a hold of him. 


	3. Chapter 3

No one had the heart to leave the relatively cramped hut they'd been left in after the medical team came to patch them up. 

It was nearing nine hours since they'd been evacuated, and the silent tension just kept building as the minutes ticked by. 

With Tony and Bucky somewhere deep in the jungle and Peter(realistically) dead, the overall morale was definitely low. 

It had never meant to end up like this. 

For all they knew, the kidnappers could have already killed Wanda and dumped her body somewhere deep where no one would find her. 

They didn't want to think about It, but with the numbers stacked against them, there was a very good chance that the two Avengers wouldn't make it out alive, all things considered. 

So when the radio tossed on the table in the middle of the hut began crackling, everything froze.

-ome in.” there was a snipped embedded in the middle of all of the static. 

“come in. Can anyone hear me?” Steve all but toppled over the table in his haste to pick up.

“This is Rogers. I read you.” 

There was more static. 

“Thank fucking god.” Tony’s sarcasm bled out through the radio, but no one missed how utterly drained he sounded. 

“Where are you. I'll send back up”.

“No need.” there was more crackling. 

Confusion descended on the team. 

“Have you two made it to a safe area?” 

“Kind of” there was a muttered conversation and a hiss that sounded  _ particularly  _ like an expletive before the static continued. 

“What happened? I need answers!”

“We're in London.” there was no trademark Stark sarcasm or obnoxiousness. 

“Inside Strange’s old place.” It set everyone on edge. 

“Excuse me?” 

“I woke up and I was on the stairs. I don't know where Barnes is though.” 

Rogers let the static continue after Tony’s abrupt and extremely worrisome message.

And in the moment of silence, from somewhere near Nat’s cot, another radio crackled to life. 

“This is Barnes. Over.” 

She disregarded the blinding pain as she twisted over to grab the radio. 

“This is Romanov. Where the fuck are You?” she rolled her eyes as the small frown tugging at Cap’s mouth. 

“I just found Stark.” 

“He's in London?” Bruce muttered the question. 

“Are you two safe?” 

“For now.”

“Don't move. We'll be there ASAP.”

And before the radio ended his message there was a flash and then they were all falling. 

\---

It wasn't that Tony didn't like surprises. 

He did.

He was practically the living embodiment of a surprise, ready to go off in any direction at any time, but falling through a pitch black hole for what felt like five straight minutes was not his definition of a “fun” surprise. 

So it was understandable that when he caught up with a freaked out ex Winter soldier, he was more than a little wary and when what looked to be a portal just happened to open up mid air and spit his team mates out, he was more than understandably a little shocked. 

But all of that was nothing compared to the surprise of electric energy filling the old mansion before exploding in a ball of electric fire to reveal a  _ beaming _ Thor. 

“Hello everyone” he boomed. 

“I come bearing good news.”

Steve hadn't even gotten to pick himself up before what happened next grounded him, seating him on the stairs. 

And within seconds there was a fluttering of energy and air, swirling chaotically before opening a bright portal next to Thor. 

“What the actual  _ fuck…?”  _ Tony mumbled. 

And standing before them all looking more than bemused was none other than Loki. 

He was dressed in what looked to be a more casual outfit than what he wore when he tried to take over New York, dark linens fitting his lithe frame with a smaller gold plate necklace around his neck. 

He looked more tired than the last time they'd met and that was saying something. 

Dark circles lines his already pale face. 

He almost looked blue. 

But the most shocking was what he was carrying. 

Carrying in an almost protective manner. 

“I believe he belongs to you all.” Loki said softly, long fingers tightening subconsciously around the red and blue fabric of Peter’s torn suit. 

And without warning Tony lunged.


	4. Chapter 4

“He's injured.” there was no sarcasm. No biting tone that all of them had come to associate with Loki.

Only a quiet assurance. Something that set everyone on edge. 

“What happened?” Tony bit out, itching to grab Peter from the slender fingers of the  _ absolute monster  _ that was holding him. 

Thor had stepped in when he lunged, knocking him off kilter in an almost panicked fashion. 

“He's healing. You'll break the energy” was the only explanation he got as he picked himself off of the cold wooden floor. 

And low and behold, he noticed he finally noticed it. 

The golden glow that was coming from the tips of Loki’s slender fingers, wrapping themselves around Peter’s head and the rest of his body.

“He's young. He'll recover quickly” Thor remarked as they stood around almost awkwardly, unsure as to exactly what they were supposed to be doing. 

“He's eighteen.” Tony muttered, not taking his eyes off the magic happening before his eyes. 

“He fell out of a plane.” Loki responded. 

“The poison stopped his heart before he landed.” It was said as an afterthought, much softer than his previous brash statement. 

Bruce took a shaky breath.

“So how exactly is he...alive?” Banner asked, looking more than a little green at the edges. 

“There was a riff in space.” Loki answered shortly, looking almost uncomfortable as he took a seat on the stairs. 

“The kid can jump dimensions?” Clint piped up. 

There was a long silence before Thor nudged Loki. 

“It's an ancient art.”

Tony quirked a brow.

“Wait a minute. Time out. Stop right there” he looked to Thor in disbelief. 

“Are you telling me that you saved Peter?” 

Loki didn't answer, cold eyes staring straight ahead. 

“Since when does  _ glorious purpose  _ save people?” 

Cap couldn't help but agree. 

“It is penance.” Thor answered.

Tony shared a silent look with Cap. 

“Penance?”

“He is originally very good in the healing magic.” Thor stated, pride evident in his booming voice. 

“Undoubtedly the best in all of Asgard. So that is what his work of penance was demanded.”

“He's a healer…?” Bruce asked curiously. 

“Indeed. And is his work now to heal whomever comes in search of healing. In the name of Asgard. “ 

“But Peter never went to Asgard.” Tony argued, still not taking his eyes off the ex murderer. 

“I was sent by Heimdall.”

“Ah yes. I requested he keep an eye out on you all here on Midgard.” Thor agreed. 

“So you caught him?” Bruce asked. 

“I could not catch him mid fall, but I caught him through his landing. Most of the fall’s energy was dispelled once we slipped into the other dimension.”

“And he's healing Now? You've gotta be touching them to heal?” Bruce asked once More, coming out of his shell in fascination of this new found persona and his glowing magic.

“His skull and spine were badly broken in the fall, not to mention his other bones. Lungs collapsed and heart nearly exploded from the force.” Tony couldn't help as his heart picked up pace.

“Even magic has its limits. This sort of injury needs a more...direct approach.” 

Thor winced. 

“Meaning?” It was Cap who pushed. 

“While death cannot be overcome in terms of healing, it can be...pushed out.” 

And in that moment gears began clicking in tony’s mind. Clicking to a halt. 

And then he saw Loki. 

Really saw him for the first time since they had been magicked to this cold abandoned building. 

He looked like he had under the tesseract. 

He looked like he was fading, dark bruise like circles under his dulling eyes with a  _ too _ pale complexion on his almost atrophied looking frame. 

“This sort of injury requires energy from a life source.” 

And in the span of that sentence Tony decided three things simultaneously. 

First, he'd never ever ever  _ ever  _ let Peter out of his sight again. 

Second, he'd draft a new accord. ASAP. Whether Fury agreed or not. 

And third, if Loki died, he would fucking riot.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, I love plot twists ~   
> (This isn't the only one)


	5. Chapter 5

Steve had alerted Fury of their location, passing on the information that they would be staying in the London Sanctum for a day or two while Peter healed.

Loki had made it clear that, although Peter was breathing, he wasn't in the clear.

Not yet.

So they set up a makeshift infirmary in what looked to be a drawing room with a giant fireplace. Just as well because it was _freezing_ in the mostly abandoned mansion.

Not that it seemed to bother the tricker turned healer.

Bruce was positive he saw Loki’s neck go blue for a few seconds out of the corner of his eye. Something that Thor had happened to see as well, eyes furrowing in worry.

But Banner knew well enough that the situation was probably not the best one to let it out that he had seen what he had seen. So he kept quiet, occupying one of the many cushioned surfaces to try and catch some shut eye, something Nat had advised everyone to do.

Better to conserve their energy for what was to come. Especially when they had no idea when the next curve ball would hit. Steve had taken it upon himself to secure the premises, doing a walkthrough just to make sure everything was secure.

Bucky and Nat were having a whispered conversation at the far end of the room, trying to figure out how the mission ended up failing so hard. Clint sat and listened, putting out observations every few moments. But Tony, Tony sat glued to the armchair next to the ornate wooden table Loki had Peter hovering over, almost cocooned inside a very intricate web of gold shimmering energy. Loki in turn sat in another arm chair scooted up as close as he could get it to the table, one hand still wrapped around the teen’s wrist.

And while Peter did look better than he had when they had first arrived, he still wasn't waking up.

Loki on the other hand looked tired. Far more tired than he had when he first arrived with Peter in tow.

Pale skin turned paler as it took on an almost blue color, glossed over with layers of what looked to be cold sweat.

He kept his eyes closed and his face blank, but Tony could still tell. It was in the little movements. The slowly slumping form and the small winces that came every couple of minutes.

But for whatever reason, the Asgardian never let go.

It had been nearing seven hours since they settled Peter on the table. Tony knew better than to kid himself.

Holding that posture for seven hours would have to be more than a little tiring.

“You've been sitting like that for seven hours. Aren't you sore or Something? Do gods not get muscle cramps?”

Loki didn't respond for a moment prompting Tony to believe he just wasn't gonna answer.

Which was fair.

“i cannot let go. His injury and wounds should have been mortal. It was just happenstance that Heimdall saw him in time” Loki answered, sounding surprisingly neutral.

“Even gods have limits. Death is one of them. Time is another. It doesn't make much sense in the mortal world, but gods have certain powers. Especially the ones who can perform magic.”

Tony sat quietly, for the first time in a long time, completely sucked in.

“One will die of course. Everyone does. But in certain cases, if the line has not been completely crossed, one can be chased away from death. And with the right timing and magic, one can avoid the fate of certain death in that moment.”

Bruce took the gap in conversation to move to the seat next to Tony, genuinely interested in what the ex murderer had to say.

“He was one moment away from death when he landed on the ground. But I pulled him through, away from the veil.”

“Where did you take him?” Bruce asked.

“In the midst of the Andromeda Galaxy. Time works differently in space and in other galaxies. It gets distorted. It wasn't much, but it was long enough to pull him away before I could pull him through a black hole. Time stops inside a black hole. So I started the healing process in there, where he was suspended between life and death.”

“It was like four hours before you brought us to here. You were in there for four hours?”

“As I said, time works differently in space. The same principle applies to creations within that infinite space. It may have been four hours for you, but it was not even the span of a heart beat in there. No time and infinite time all at the same moment.”

“So why take Tony and Bucky? Why not just take everyone at once?”

Loki hesitated before answering.

“I didn't have enough energy to spare. This sort of healing processes is a transference. My magic, my energy is being channeling into mending the injured areas. But humans are especially intricate which means there is more energy used.”

“So you're telling me that you are taking from your life energy to get Peter fixed up?” Tony stared seriously at the man in front of him.

Loki nodded.

“So how did you get everyone else here?” Bruce asked.

“While he isn't as well trained in the dark arts as I, even Thor knows how to open certain portals.”

There was a beat of silence before Loki seized, muscles tightening as he shut his eyes against the wave of sudden pain. “Hey! What's happening?” Tony s eyes widened in surprise.

“Thor!” Banner turned to yet out of the room.

It was seconds before they heard him racing in.

“What is It? Has something gone wrong?” he glanced between the three men in worry.

“He just seized up out of nowhere!” Bruce answered worriedly.

Thor came closer to the table, checking once over before letting out a small sigh of relief.

“This is good news, my friends!”

“He doesn't look too happy about it” Tony gestured to the still wincing Loki who surprisingly still kept his grip on Peter’s wrist.

“This means that your youth, the spiderling is waking.”

Tony quirked a brow.

“right now within the head of that boy, there are millions of connections reforming themselves. This sometimes causes the body to begin to reject the healing magic. It attacks the nerves of the healer.”

Bruce took a second glance at Loki who was visibly sweating cold sweat, hand still tightened around Peter’s costumed wrist.

“But alas, the healer cannot let go until consciousness is revived else the lingering damage be too much. All the progress made can collapse within itself.”

“So what do we do now?!” Bruce couldn't look away from the disturbing sight.

“The best we can do is to trust Loki and allow him to continue his work. He knows his own limits. We must hope to the Valkyrie that the Spiderling wakes up before then.”

And now all they could do was to wait….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What I wrote about space is probably wrong  
> Who knows?  
> But one thing is for sure, there was good in Loki after all.


	6. Chapter 6

Loki let go the moment Peter’s eyes fluttered open, collapsing back into his seat feeling more than exhausted. 

It showed on his eerily blue tinted skin and general disheveled appearance. 

But that was something to think about later. Right now, all Tony could focus on was the surge of worry the moment Peter tried to sit up on the hard table he was now laying on without the Asgardian magic surrounding him.

He winced, biting back a bark of pain against the  _ too sudden  _ movement.

“Peter!” Tony was up and ready to latch on to Peter’s arm before the teen nearly fell off of the table. 

“Wha-” 

Peter's terrified wide eyes raced from point to point.

Bruce could practically  _ feel  _ the pain rolling off Tony as he struggled to calm the teen down. 

And out of nowhere, the words died on his lips and his eyes fluttered shut as he slumped unconscious against Tony who looked more than a little startled.

“His heart was beating far too fast for his injured state.” Loki answered quietly, removing his hand once more from Peter's limp wrist. 

“I didn't hurt him. He's just asleep” Loki sat back in his seat, obviously spent if the small tremors were anything to go by. 

Tony wasn't sure if he believed the man or not. 

But the again, if he wanted Peter hurt he wouldn't have put in all of the effort…

_ People change.  _ He dismissed the whispered thought. 

One good couldn't  _ possibly  _ account for all of the bad. 

Not so quickly. And certainly not so soon. 

But to say he wasn't conflicted would be a lie. 

Thor cut through Tony’s internal storm cloud of thoughts and emotions as he strode back into the room in surprising silence. 

“We cannot stay much longer.” he rested a hand on Loki’s slumped black clad shoulder, looking suspiciously apologetic. 

Loki didn't even blink as he straightened himself up off of the chair, wobbling slightly at the sudden change of position. He took one last blank glance at the sleeping teen before flicking his eyes onto the ground, jaw tensing as did the muscles in his neck. 

Bruce saw it before Tony did, eyes widening as he jolted out of his seat, hand outstretched in worry. 

He didn't even see Loki’s hand coming up to block the doctor from trying to get his hands on the web of blackened veins appearing on his neck like ink splattered on paper. 

“Doctor Banner, I must warn you against touching that.” Thor stated, glancing worriedly at Loki who put his hand down. 

“What is It?” Bruce took a step back falling into step with Tony.

“You should get something for that.” tony nodded towards the growing web. 

“Benedryll or something.”

There was a flicker of a bitter smile across the trickster's face. 

“It's permanent.” 

“You sure? I'm positive that wasn't there ten minutes ago.” Tony quirked a brow. 

“It's a warning.” Thor answered gravely. 

“We are running out of time.” 

“Won't lie, weird clock. But you do you I guess.” the sarcasm couldn't hide the worry from Tony’s voice. 

And without another word, the two disappeared in a flash of color and light leaving the rest in eerie silence. 

\----

It was another hour before Peter woke up, considerably less panicked and in pain. 

Not that he would have been able to tell from the surprisingly tight but gentle hug Tony enveloped him in the moment he woke up with a start. 

It was bizarre to say the least.

“Are you okay? Are you in pain? Can you see me? Can you hear me? Actually don't answer that. Stupid question” Tony held him at arm's length, looking to make sure Peter was 100% alive and not… not what he was a few hours ago… 

Even the thought of the word  _ dead  _ left a bad taste in his mouth. 

“I'm fine, Mr. Stark- I mean tony!” 

“You better be!”

“Why wouldn't I be?” 

“I was so wo-” Tony froze, thought process derailing in a blink of an eye. 

“What do you mean ...why?”

“Did something..  happen?” Peter gazed in wide eyed worry at the man in front of him.

There was a stifling beat of silence before Bruce broke in. 

“You got hurt mid mission.” his words and tone were measured but he was definitely worried. 

Peter's face scrunched up in confusion as he tried his best to remember. 

“You don't remember  _ anything?  _  What do you remember last?” Tony shot Bruce a worried glance. 

“I-I remember us getting the green light to jump off the plane.” 

Bruce nodded. 

“And then everything else is just black. I don't remember anything after that... “

“That's not… abnormal I guess? Your injury certainly warrants a bit of amnesia.” Bruce directed the prognosis more to Tony than to Peter, mainly because Tony looked like he was going to drop dead from a heart attack any moment. 

“Was it bad? I mean I kind of do feel sore..” 

Tony took a seat, scrubbing a hand over his tired eyes. 

“It was.” he stated a matter of factly. 

“And if you  _ ever  _ do anything like that again, I'll-” Tony frowned before narrowing his eyes. 

“I can't think of anything that could possibly cover the extent of psychological trauma you've unleashed on me, but when I do I'll make sure to double it.” 

Peter's eyes widened as he glanced over to Banner in shock. 

“It was  _ that  _ bad?” 

Bruce nodded gravely.

“Y-you technically died.”

It took a moment for Peter to digest the sudden twist. 

“Died? Like  _ died  _ died?”

“You fell out of the helicopter.” 

“ _ What?!”  _

Tony closed his eyes, breathing in and out trying to calm his racing heart. 

It was  _ definitely  _ too early to be reliving that memory. 

“But I don't  _ feel  _ dead.” 

Bruce shot Tony a worried look before turning back to Peter who looked close to where Tony was in terms of proximity to a breakdown. 

“Loki saved you.” 

Peter's has dropped open. This was a joke. It  _ had  _ to be.

“Wasn't he that guy who tried to take over New York?” 

Bruce nodded. “He's… changed.”

“I don't-i don't remember seeing him.”

“You got a glimpse. But you were definitely out of it. Probably can't remember seeing him. He was here an hour ago.” Tony answered, not taking his eyes off of the very alive Peter. 

“He left?”

Bruce nodded. 

“And we should be getting ready to go too.” he nodded to Tony.

“As long as you're feeling okay.” he turned his attention back to Peter who hopped off of the table, much to Tony’s chagrin.

“Careful! Christ ,Peter. You just woke up like five minutes ago.” Tony looked more than ready to shove Peter back onto a seat or anything nearby. But he held on, agreeing internally on getting involved the moment Peter even looked  _ close  _ to flagging. Which he didn't. 

The teen took a few steps around, stretching out his sore muscles. 

“You're awake!” Clint stated, surprise coloring his voice as he stood leaning on the door frame. He leaned back marginally to stick his head out of the frame. 

“Guys, he'd awake!” 

Tony could have sworn he only heard one pair of steps before the three others arrived from upstairs. 

“Are his organs Ok?” Nat looked to Bruce for answers. 

“He looks fine. Nothing else wrong.” 

Cap let out a sigh of relief. 

“What happened to your head?” Peter's brow scrunched in worry as Nat’s guazzed bandage came into view. 

“Got hit by the helicopter shrapnel.”

“Helicopter shrapnel?” 

“The one we were on.”

Peter looked to Cap for confirmation. 

“You don't remember?” Rogers asked worriedly. 

Peter looked away, fidgeting with his suit in discomfort. 

“He says he doesn't remember anything after we first rode into the mission.” Bruce answered. 

“Is that normal?” 

“Could be. I'd like to get him to a real hospital before I say anything though.”

Rogers nodded, taking out his phone to call for backup. 

“Is everyone set to go? They'll be here in ten minutes.” cap returned, shoving his phone in one of his jacket pockets. 

“Didn't know SHIELD had people stationed so close…?” Nat quirked a brow. 

Cap shrugged. 

“Better early than late.”

“True.”

The team lapsed back to silence rummaging to pack up whatever they brought back from the mission.

“Is it just me or is there sparks happening right now?” Peter watched wide eyed as the sparks became bigger and bigger, expanding outward into a full on portal. 

“Stark.”

“You're kidding…”

Strange just stared, mouth drawn into a taut line. The picture of bemusement. 

“Is everyone ready?”

“Since when were you the SHIELD backup team?” Tony quirked a brow.

“Fury has been standing outside the new York sanctum yelling since eleven.”

It made sense. Hoodie and all. He looked  _ beyond  _ grumpy. 

He gestured for Barton and Widow to step through, returning Cap’s nod of greeting as he stepped through. 

Bruce went next, motioning for Peter to follow. 

Peter followed, staring in wide eyed amazement at the portal opener. 

“Woah. Are you like a wizard?” he looked excitedly over at Tony.

“Is he like Loki? Does that mean he's an alien or something?” 

Tony smirked. 

“He's a doctor, Peter.”

“Like, a doctor doctor? Like hospital scrubs and horrible handwriting type doctor?”

Tony and Strange shared a look of tired amusement. 

“He's a Neurosurgeon.”

Peter’s eyes widened further in amazement. 

“So you're like a genius. Are all of your friends geniuses? I mean Mr. Wayne seemed like a genius too. And he's super rich.”

“We're all in a secret genius billionaire club.” 

Strange rolled his eyes. 

“And we'll be late for said club if we don't hurry this up.”

Peter almost tripped in his haste to get through the portal.

Tony followed not far behind.

“You look like shit.” Tony didn't even bother with a sarcastic answer. 

“He fell out of the helicopter.”

Strange’s brows furrowed in concern. 

“Technically died. Loki brought him back with some sort of weird alien magic.”

“The ex terrorist tried to take over New York Loki? That one?”

Tony patted Strange on the shoulder.

“I'll buy you a drink. It's been a weird fucking couple of hours and honestly at this point, I don't know…”

“Sounds...good..?” And with one last flourish he closed the portal, leaving the sanctum in darkness.

  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Strange 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> STORY IGNORES INFINITY WAR

It was pure chance that Tony saw the magical killer turned healer a few months later after a mission that had gone spectacularly down hill. 

The hits had been vicious enough to get through the suit to his mortal form, snapping a few ribs causing him to bleed internally. 

Something Bruce had freaked out about. 

Well, the entire team had freaked but it had been Banner that had the clarity of mind to call for a higher power. 

Which was how Thor came to crash land next to the injured Iron man at the tail end of the team’s firefight. He wasted no time in asking questions, opting to take Tony into his arms with  _ surprising  _ gentleness before portalling back to where Bruce could only assume was Asgard, leaving the rest of the rest of the  team to clean up the mess left behind.

\---

Tony awoke to two things: golden strands of magic flitting around him and an obvious lack of pain. 

Not that he was complaining. 

No pain. No fatigue. No after battle anxiety decompression. Just a bizarre feeling of restedness. 

“You've been asleep for half a day.” 

The glowing strands slowly rescinded back into the fingertips of the owner. 

Loki looked less tired than the last time Tony had seen him. 

Less like death. More like… like the lively sharp tongued trickster Thor had told the team stories about. 

Perhaps it was the lack of battle armor, replaced instead by simple green and gold robes. Something about him looked far less sinister. 

“I was bleeding in the last time I was awake.” he hauled himself up to sitting position, hands going unconsciously to the ark reactor. 

Loki sat back, staring amusedly at the man. 

“So this is your domain. This is Asgard?”

“It is. The royal healing grounds. We're in the mountains.”

Tony glanced around the large clean space to find that it had indeed been built into the mountain side. The large window at the far end showed the city from a distance. Truly magnificent.

“And you're a doctor? No. A healer?” 

Loki quirked a brow. 

“Noted. That was a stupid question.”

“How did-” Tony was cut off suddenly by a knock at the ornate door before it opened. 

“Thor requests to see you immediately.” The man nodded to Loki. 

“He says it is an emergency.”

Loki rolled his eyes before standing. 

“Everything is an emergency with him, Heimdall. He has legs. Don't let him push you around.” Heimdall chuckled.

“You should tell him so yourself. I'm sure he'd really listen.” The man jested back. 

Loki left swiftly, leaving the heavy door to swing shut. 

“Gold eyes. Low key terrifying stance. Let me guess. You're the gatekeeper?” Tony made to stand but paused when Heimdall held up a hand. 

“I've been given instructions to make sure you stay resting until Loki returns.”

“I am resting.”

“He emphasized the importance of making sure you're feet stay off the ground.”

Tony quirked a brow.

“Alright then. I'm gonna need you to sit then because you're making me super antsy.”

Heimdall nodded as he strode over to sit next to where Tony sat.

“You are incredibly lucky, man of iron.” 

“Tony. Name’s Tony.”

“Stark. Tony Stark. Thor has spoken at great lengths about you.”

“Good things I hope?” 

Heimdall chuckled once more.

“Some good. Some bad. Some preposterous.”

“That's good to hear.”

They lapsed into silence for a moment. 

“You're the gate keeper. So does that mean you have a special power or Something? All eyes everywhere?” 

Heimdall nodded.

“So, are you the only one or…?”

The man sat a moment in silence before responding. 

“You are curious about how your son’s situation was known.” 

Tony choked. 

“Not my son.”

Heimdall stared a moment before smiling. 

“Not all children are biological, Stark. Some are connected through universal strings.”

Tony didn't bother to respond. 

“As for your question, Loki has a similar power. A sort of curse in its own right.”

Gold eyes met warm browns and in that moment Tony understood the severity of that phrase. 

“Part skill and part punishment. He has been cursed to help those in need. Particularly those connected to himself.”

Tony sat, completely engaged. 

“The universe has no set time frame. No constructs of time and order. However, it has connected. Everything is connected to something. Nothing is truly all alone. So when Peter was falling, the connection between Loki and your child was strung taut.” Heimdall gazed out the window. 

“I'm sure you have seen It, the black markings on his neck.”

Tony nodded. 

“When he fails to get to where he needs to go in time, the tautness feeds from his life source. Even gods are mortal. They can die like everyone else.” 

“So you're saying he's on a death leash”

“For a lack of better words. 

“That's insane.”

Heimdall nodded. 

“This incident truly shook him, as much as he hid it. He was plagued for days after. Waking in the middle of the night like he had seen Death himself.”

Tony didn't know what to do with this new information. 

“He is truly trying to do right by his past. Even Thor believes the fight for the young Spider’s life was more vicious than Loki had explained.”

“He looked near death when he revived Peter. Like nowhere near what he looked like a few minutes ago.” 

“ There was a momentary riff in the very fabric of space in the time Loki found Peter. The elders think that he bartered with Death himself. Or more likely that he stole the young man from Death’s hands.” 

Tony paled. 

“Be it self preservation or a true want of saving a life, we cannot be certain, but he has changed. A little ways back to his old heart.”

They lapsed back into companionable silence once more leaving Tony to digest the overload of information he had been given. 

One thing was for certain. 

There would  _ definitely  _ be time for explanations in the future. He would make sure of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do yall think? Was it self preservation or truly out of heart?

**Author's Note:**

> I know I know. I have like more than three ongoing stories I should be finishing. But I couldn't help this little plot bunny that popped into my head!


End file.
